February 2016 A Red Hot Month For TO Real Estate

The Toronto real estate was red hot in February 2016 according to a report released today by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). After accounting for the leap year day, housing sales were still above the previous record for February set back in 2010. Check out the report below.

GTA REAL ESTATE: TREB FEBRUARY 2016 RESALE HOUSING FIGURES

TORONTO, March 3, 2016 — Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported a record number of home sales through TREB’s MLS® System in February 2016. There were 7,621 transactions reported this past February – up 21.1 per cent compared to February 2015.

The number of new listings entered into TREB’s MLS® System was also up on a year-over-year basis, but by a lesser 8.2 per cent. The fact that the annual rate of sales growth outstripped the annual rate of new listings growth shows a tightening of market conditions compared to last year.

“Even after accounting for the leap year day, sales were above the previous record for February set back in 2010. Sales were up strongly from the 15th day of the month onward as well, despite the new federal mortgage lending guidelines coming into effect that require at least a 10 per cent down payment on the portion of purchase prices between $500,000 and $1,000,000,” said Mr. McLean.

Seller’s market conditions continued throughout the GTA in February. Strong competition between buyers resulted in a healthy growth in selling prices. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark was up by 11.3 per cent year-over-year. The average selling price was up by 14.9 per cent annually to $685,278.

“Recent polling conducted for TREB by Ipsos suggested that GTA households will remain upbeat about purchasing a home in 2016. Early sales results for January and February certainly support this view. With strong sales up against a constrained supply of listings, home prices continued to trend strongly upward,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.

Summary of TorontoMLS Sales and Average Price

February 1 – 29, 2016

2016

2015

Sales

Average Price

New Listings

Sales

Average Price

New Listings

City of Toronto (“416”)

2,809

719,843

4,476

2,352

630,855

4,187

Rest of GTA (“905”)

4,812

665,100

6,799

3,942

575,715

6,234

GTA

7,621

685,278

11,275

6,294

596,320

10,421

TorontoMLS Sales & Average Price By Home Type

February 1 – 29, 2016

Sales

Average Price

416

905

Total

416

905

Total

Detached

855

2,772

3,627

1,211,459

816,705

909,761

Yr./Yr. % Change

11.8%

23.1%

20.3%

16.3%

17.4%

16.1%

Semi-Detached

239

486

725

848,835

534,476

638,106

Yr./Yr. % Change

21.9%

21.8%

21.8%

20.7%

12.7%

16.1%

Townhouse

253

849

1,102

578,667

493,092

512,739

Yr./Yr. % Change

11.0%

18.1%

16.4%

13.9%

13.8%

13.7%

Condo Apartment

1,439

607

2,046

435,579

327,086

403,392

Yr./Yr. % Change

25.6%

26.7%

25.9%

17.8%

1.6%

13.4%

February 2016 Year-Over-Year Per Cent Change in the MLS® HPI

Composite (All Types)

Single-Family Detached

Single-Family Attached

Townhouse

Apartment

TREB Total

11.30%

12.78%

11.51%

9.70%

6.11%

Halton Region

17.62%

16.17%

10.61%

7.07%

–

Peel Region

10.65%

11.60%

11.85%

8.15%

5.70%

City of Toronto

8.60%

10.53%

9.34%

9.52%

5.89%

York Region

14.08%

14.80%

13.69%

14.56%

9.81%

Durham Region

13.08%

13.25%

13.62%

13.77%

3.81%

Orangeville

16.55%

16.69%

15.32%

–

–

South Simcoe County1

15.94%

16.21%

15.67%

–

–

Source: Toronto Real Estate Board

1South Simcoe includes Adjala-Tosorontio, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Essa, Innisfil and New TecumsethClick here for the full Market Watch report